Day 96 - Livorno, Italy

 

Date:  April 14

 

Location:  Day 96 – Livorno, Italy

 

Next Port:  Monte Carlo, Monaco, April 15

 

Quick Summary:  Having been to beautiful Florence – the city that gave birth to the Renaissance – several times, we headed out to explore the heart of Tuscany. We visited the medieval towns of Siena and St. Gimignano and enjoyed a day in the Tuscan countryside with spring bursting out all around us.

 

Report:  Livorno, midway down the Italian peninsula, is the seaport to the rolling hills of Tuscany and cities with such familiar names as Pisa, Florence and Siena.

 

Since we had already explored the wonderful art in Florence when we lived in Germany in the 70s and three years ago while on a Med cruise, we decided to see for ourselves what all the excitement regarding Tuscany is about.

 

Warm “June” weather has come early to the region and spring is fully underway. The fruit trees are blooming, the wisteria is magnificent, the corn fields look like lush green carpets, the grape vines in the vineyards are already showing a few green leaves, trees are showing that light green of new growth, and farmers are busy with their plowing. The slender, dark green cypress trees offer great contrast. Yes, the rolling countryside, punctuated by brown and orange castles, manors and small villages truly created beautiful landscapes at every turn.

 

After a two-hour ride from the busy port of Livorno, we arrived on the outskirts of the walled city of Siena, 43 miles south of Florence. Siena stretches over the slopes of three steep hills and is practically unchanged since medieval times.

 

Siena’s bankers, textile magnates and wool traders of the 12th century were in direct competition with Florence. For 400 years the rival cities were at each other’s throats. The Black Plague in 1348 killed more than 80% of its population of 40,000. In 1553, Cosimo I sent a force led by the brutal marquis of Marignano to subdue the pesky Sienese once and for all. He besieged the city for a year and a half before storming it in 1355 and burning all the fields and most of the buildings. Some 2,000 Sienese fled to the hills and kept the Sienese Republic alive for another four years before being part of the Grand Ducal of Tuscany and ruled by the Florentines. Since the plague, Siena was so busy defending its liberty that it had little time, energy or resources to develop as a city. Thankfully, it was never bombed during WW II. Thus, it remains today mostly as it looked in the Middle Ages.

 

(Amazingly, this dislike of the Florentines by the Sienese continues today – both guides expressed it in a not too humorous manner.)

 

We explored the church of San Domenico, a gothic church built in 1460 and dedicated to St. Catherine, the patron saint of Italy. It has a gilded marble tabernacle that contains her mummified skull. A finger bone is displayed in another case. (Relics were used in the early Catholic Church to prove the stories about the saints to the masses.)

 

A funeral for a ninety-nine year old former archbishop was being conducted in the Duomo, so we were not allowed to enter. However, the white marble façade had just been cleaned and it was magnificent.

 

We then entered the Piazza del Campo where the three hills of the city converge. The large open sloping plaza is bordered by elegant palaces, the Palazzo Publico (city hall) and the Torre del Mangia – a 102 meter bell tower built in 1325-44.

 

Our tour ended here but we then enjoyed a leisurely Italian lunch (salad, pizza and red wine) with Hilde, Jarmo, Cynthia and John at small tables facing the busy piazza. Twice a year, in July and August, some 40,000 spectators jam this area to watch horses race around the circumference in the Palio. The horses represent each of the 17 neighborhood wards of the city and the jockeys ride bareback. The “jockeys are just for decoration,” and they don’t have to be astride the horse (and frequently aren’t) when it crosses the finish line.  

 

From Siena we drove through the rolling hills to beautiful San Gimignano. We saw this small town’s famous towers from quite a distance. They must have been a welcoming sight in the Middle Ages as the town became a famous rest site for pilgrims from Northern Europe enroute to Rome. San Gimignano’s population was also devastated by the plagues of the 14th, 15th and 17th centuries.  It became something of a poor backwater and has only gained fame in recent years because of its distinctive skyline and the immaculate preservation of its Middle Age structures – particularly the “family towers.” Only 16 of the original 72 towers remain, but San Gimignano must have been something in its day. These towers represented wealth and influence of the merchant families. They were built for defensive purposes, but could be used for short time and in a pinch as bunkers. The higher your tower the richer your family. (Guess things haven’t changed too much over the centuries.)

 

We enjoyed our short guided walk through this finely preserved small walled city in which 1,200 of the city’s 7,000 residents still live. After the tour – instead of free time – we joined the guide for a private tour of the modest sized basilica just fronting one of the two piazzas. Its interior walls and ceiling were completely covered by colorful frescos. On one side were panels depicting the New Testament stories and the other side showed stories from the Old Testament.

 

The first half of the ride back to Livorno was again through the Tuscan hills. The light of the late afternoon sun made for some beautiful tapestries of fields, orchards, vineyards and small villages.

 

We arrived at the Voyager at 6:45 and sailed at 7:30. After such a long day we decided to eat light in our suite, play some cards and work on the journal.

 

Tomorrow we end this segment of our trip when we arrive in Monte Carlo. We will be saying good-bye to many new friends, but seven deserve special mention:

 

·        Cindy, Bob and Grant – from Houston. We’ve enjoyed great times with this family on excursions, in our sea-day devotionals, in the pool and around the ship.

 

·        Noelle and Robert – from Australia and the parents of two sons who work on the Voyager. Both were active in our sea-day devotionals and Rob added a great deal to our Easter Service.

 

·        Mssr. Claude – from Paris and a true French gentleman. We met Claude soon after departing Ft. Lauderdale and thoroughly enjoyed his company on excursions, at dinner and at the concerts. He always had a twinkle in his eyes.

 

·        Alexis – from Brittany, France, and our favorite waiter from the aft deck of La Veranda. Alexis is leaving early because he has been promoted to head waiter. (We’d like to think our comment cards helped!) Instead of completing the World Cruise, he will enjoy six weeks off before joining the Voyager again in his new position in June. After that contract, he will have some additional vacation before returning in time for the 2008 World Cruise. We won’t be joining him on that one…but do hope to see him again on a future Regent cruise…or maybe even in Chicago.

 

Tomorrow we begin the last segment of our odyssey. It’s hard to believe that this grand adventure will be coming rapidly to a close.

 

Karen and Larry

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

Photos of our visit to Tuscany have been added.